244 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



sidered themselves part proprietors, without their 

 leave : some sections of the Alimzai did the same. 

 The dispute was at its height when a Syud or Fakir 

 from Peshawar suddenly made his appearance on the 

 spot, and at once collecting round him as many out- 

 laws, fanatics, and fiery young men as he could 

 muster, began to preach war with the infidels, and 

 used his spiritual authority to condemn the action 

 of the Khans who had opened the purdah to the 

 Sahibs. 



It is astonishing how soon a man with the slightest 

 pretence to sanctity, especially if accompanied with a 

 little originality and dash, can obtain a hold on the 

 superstitious fancies of the Pathans. He is at times 

 permitted to demand their obedience on points with 

 which he has no personal concern. I^o religious 

 mendicant vainly demands alms. A pretender will 

 suddenly take up his abode under a large rock or tree 

 near some village, stick up a flag, live in squalid filth, 

 talk very sententiously, give advice on every possible 

 subject with the dogmatism of an oracle, and before 

 six months pass he will be a recognised authority. 

 While he lives he is provided with more than suffi- 

 cient food for his wants, and when he dies his grave 

 becomes a place of pilgrimage, and miracles are per- 

 formed at his shrine. Each section of a tribe has its 

 own sacred spot to which its members resort ; while 

 here and there are the famous miracle-working giant 

 shrines, known as Chalgazas, or "forty-footers,"- 



